President Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday criticized the Georgian government for its “lack of action” in preserving cultural heritage within the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia.
As the country marked the 16th anniversary of the August 2008 war with Russia, Zourabichvili reaffirmed that the occupation of Georgian territories by the Kremlin would “never be forgotten or accepted”.
In her statement, Zourabichvili stressed the importance of remembering the tragic events of August 2008, highlighting the ongoing occupation was not just a relic of the past but a present-day challenge. “August holds a tragic place in Georgia’s history. Sixteen years since Russia’s last invasion, the occupation is not forgotten! We will never get used to it, and we will never accept it!” the President stressed.
Zourabichvili expressed particular concern over what she viewed as the government’s insufficient efforts to protect and preserve Georgian cultural heritage in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
She questioned the current strategy – or lack thereof – asking when the Minister of Culture last appealed to UNESCO for the protection of Georgian churches in the regions. “What is being done in this direction? What is being done for the Georgian language?” she asked.
The President also criticized the government’s broader approach to supporting and strengthening the regions affected by the occupation.
During her visit to Ergneti, a village near the occupation line with Tskhinvali, Zourabichvili called for a daily focus on what could be done to reinforce the areas, not through force or war, but by supporting the local population and maintaining the cultural ties that “bind them to the rest of Georgia”.
In a further rebuke, Zourabichvili highlighted that the restoration of Ergneti was largely funded by foreign donors.
“We can not forget that this village has been completely restored with the help of ‘foreign agents’. We owe them our thanks,” she said.
Zourabichvili has multiple times slammed the Government for the adoption of the Foreign Influence Transparency Law in May, which obliges local organizations obtaining more than 20 percent of their incomes from abroad as pursuant of foreign influence.
The law has been largely criticized by the country’s foreign allies for its alleged resemblance to the similar Russian law.
